Wine as one of the main production and export industries for the Spanish economy, but also as a vehicular element for the territory, as inspiration for art, as a hallmark of cultures and landscapes and as a gastronomic and tourist experience. With this value proposition and the expectation of bringing together nearly 600 wine cellar, Barcelona Wine Week bursts onto the trade fair scene to become the industry’s largest meeting point for domestic and international operators in Spain.
The new event, organized by Alimentaria Exhibitions, a Fira de Barcelona company, will reflect Intervin’s long history at Alimentaria and offer an innovative format on a disruptive and unique platform enabling attendees to learn, travel, enjoy sensory experiences and do business.
BWW will be held every two years in Hall 8 of the Montjuic venue and it will be organised in accordance with the great diversity of the production areas around Spain. Similarly, the wineries will take part upon the basis of an innovative design format to promote the brands’ equal and uniform presence.
Antonio Valls, general director of Alimentaria Exhibitions, explains that “the new fair is a spin-off of Alimentaria that has come into being as a result of the influence and importance of the Spanish wine industry and to meet the demands of companies and entities from the wine world which are seeking a new internationalisation platform”.
The territory as the main axis
Barcelona Wine Week will provide a “unique, transformational and inspiring setting, with the aim of becoming the main showcase for the sector and a true reflection of the singular features of the national wine scene”, explains Javier Pagès, president of DO Cava and the new fair. “This new event will capture the global nature of the huge cultural and nutritional heritage that makes wine one of the pillars of the Mediterranean diet”, emphasizes Pagès.
One of the project’s strategic partners is the FEV (Spanish Wine Federation). According to José Luis Benítez, its general director, “this new approach seeks to position Barcelona Wine Week as the great international showcase for Spanish wine, capitalizing on the strength of the Barcelona brand abroad and a programme of specific buyers that is highly attractive for the exhibiting wine cellar”.
Business, culture and trends
BWW will also be a multi-disciplinary and versatile fair, a unique point of reference in its genre as a result of the wide range of products, its location and the training, experience and business opportunities it will provide for the professionals who take part. “Commercial exchanges are one of our top priorities, as we seek to promote business opportunities among the participating companies, large and small wine cellar and groups that import and distribute Spanish wine”, underlines Valls.
Thus, internationalisation will be a priority in the fair’s strategy, promoting the penetration of Spanish wines into foreign markets and their consolidation by means of a programme of buyers from the most attractive recipient countries for the industry, drawn up together with ICEX Spain Trade and Investment. María Naranjo, director of ICEX’s Food and Gastronomy Division, points out that: “BWW will demonstrate that Spain is one of the most important wine-producing powers in the world, while it will maximize the visibility of our wines in markets that already acknowledge our quality and others where we envisage interesting opportunities to position our wines among the most attractive and innovative products on the market so as to improve their acceptance”.
The event schedule will be complemented by different dynamic spaces such as BWW Trends, which, in keeping with the latest market trends, will host wine cellar that produced biodynamic and ecological wines as well as high-altitude wines. There will also be areas set aside for sparkling and generous wines, spaces assigned to accessories and homeware and specific cocktail and catering areas.
As for the Wine Hub, there will be tastings, pairings, talks and different top-level training sessions. The event will enable visitors to identify different aspects of the world of wine linked to art and culture and its influence on literature, films and music, thus recreating a distinctive atmosphere.
Quality achieves prestige abroad
Spain, the third largest wine producer, has the largest surface area of vine plantations in the world, with more than 950,000 hectares catering for highly varied typologies, according to data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment. Great wines of excellent quality achieving prestige beyond their places of origin can be tasted in all the autonomous communities.
In the first ten months of 2018 Spain exported 1.636 billion litres of wine worth 2.406 billion euros, 3.5% more than in the same period of the previous year with 15% less volume, according to the OeMV (Spanish Wine Market Observatory). With this data we can gather that exports of wines with greater quality and more added value are gathering pace. The main destinations for Spanish wines are the United Kingdom, Germany and France, although the most significant upturns have occurred in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Italy, China and Ireland.